Ijkpieland
The State of Ijkpieland (Duntrekaans: Ijkpieland Staat) is the easternnmost and only inland province of the Republic of Saridan. Etymology The province was named for the Ikpi people who lived in the area lived in the country during pre-modern times. This is also the province where the majority of Ikpies live today. Economy Ijkpieland's economy is driven by the small farms that organize into Planter's Unions. Coffee is the Staat's largest export, and it is it's chief source of income. ''Coffee System'' The Coffee system is the economic system that dominates the Ijkpieland economy. Saridan's coffee system is unique and was developed in Boerestaat in 3202 while under the rule of King Gordon Gustaf Magnussen. Coffee producers developed a primitive version of the system at the Coffee Producers convention of 3202. Since then the system has developed with time to become the staple of not only Ijkpieland's economy, but Saridan's economy. Planter's unions A Planter's Union is a concept developed in 3202. Multiple Plantation owner's invested in developing the Coffee Market. The Planters would fund infrastructural projects, Agricultural Science, and other projects that benefitted them as a whole. Originally only 4 Planter's Unions existed, and they were all in Boerestaat. However, currently 153 Planter's Unions exist throughout Saridan, 40 of which are in Ijkpieland. In 3285 the first Union Distribution Company was formed. The South Boerestaat Coffee Company was founded by the South Boerestaat Planter's Union, which was the most powerful Planter's Union in Saridan. A UDC agrees to purchase a full crop of Coffee from every member Plantation in the Planter's Union with which they are affiliated. In exchange the Planter's Union provides the company with capital to start up and expand. UDC's receive the coffee at discounted prices from the planters. The Planters agree to the discounted price because the UDC guarantees to buy their whole crop, which provides them with guaranteed income. When this system first emerged it caused great harm to the average person. Only 4 Planter's Union's existed at the time, and only 1 UDC which worked with every Planter's Union. Therefore this UDC had a total monoploy on coffee. Because the UDC purchased the full crop from nearly every Planter in Boerestaat there was no competition. However, over time more UDC's were formed as more Planter's Unions were formed. Today there are 112 UDC's serving 153 Planter's Unions. The system helps to guarantee income to Planters, which in turn helps to guarantee employment to laborers. It makes the otherwise volatile coffee market stable in Saridan. Ikpi planters Unlike Boerestaat or Tasselstaat the Ikpi planters do not own much land. While wealthy planters in Boerestaat succesfully purchased huge plots of land, and Planters in Tasselstaat wrestled their way into power, Ijkpieland was always the Staat of small farmers. The farmers did not want to sell their land. In Tasselstaat the farmers were forced to sell their land due to policies that local politicians, that the wealthy planters bribed, had put into place. In Ijkpieland the government worked with the farmers to resist the powerful planters. The small farmers organized into Planters Unions. These Unions consisted of hundreds of small farmers as opposed to the Boerestaat Unions that consisted of 20 or so wealthy Planters. The Ikpi Planter's Unions have remained to this day, and the small farmer has survived there by adopting the system that made the Wealthy planters so wealthy.